Back in Kathmandu 3rd July
After settling back in to our Hotel and learning that Prakesh had managed to secure our Pakistan Visas for us, we set about returning the hire gear and ’water-proof’ jackets we’d bought. The Nepalise dealer was genuinely surprised we’d had a problem.(We still weren’t sure if the water inside Sylvia’s jacket was sweat but we felt either way a breathable waterproof jacket should keep you drier than if you’d just walked in the rain in your blouse. ) The salesman had given Sylvia a written Guarantee with a money-back promise and he honoured it without quibbling…..which is more than can be said for North Face. They wanted to test the jacket which I guess is fair enough(as people in the past have bought new jackets/equipment, used them to trek, and returned them at the end faulty-(i.e. to get free hire of new equipment !!). When we returned the following day they confessed that they hadn’t tested it fully but would be prepared to exchange it for the same model. I said this wasn’t good enough as we were leaving Kathmandu soon and wouldn’t be in a position to return it should the replacement fail in a week or so. This was a circular argument and left us agreeing that I would e-mail the head office in the USA with the promise of a near immediate response. Guess what ? I didn’t get even a 24 hour response. It appears the lady in the shop hadn’t given me the personal e-mail address she intended !! Arrgghh !! Finally it was felt that the jacket I had been sold was unsuitable for trekking as it was a ski jacket and hence the water in it could have been sweat from wearing too heavier jacket for the job. If this was the case I really am flabbergasted . I’m fairly sure a conventional sou-wester would have generated less sweat/water inside. We were walking with heavy packs BUT we weren’t running and it certainly wasn’t hot !! On the basis of being sold the wrong jacket I was allowed to choose a different one and make up the difference of the resultant credit with a second pair of walking trousers. I left feeling just ok about the whole thing.(Read about my experience with new jacket in the Chitwan entry…… & elsewhere !!)
It was also the time of Sylvia’s Birthday and we’d hoped for her to be inside the Chitwan National park spotting White Rhino’s but we just couldn’t get there in time so I wanted to take her to a nice restaurant in town. We found one recommended very highly in the Rough Guide and so went there for the evening. The food was good but not excellent for the money spent or the self-promotion the owner had given himself. Friends in high places he had, but he needed to ensure the quality of products to those of us in the lower places. Our experience was further spoilt by a member of their staff stealing some chocolate we’d bought for Prakesh and the boys back at our Hotel. We left it there by accident and I returned the following morning to collect it but nobody had seen it. I assured the Manager it had definitely been left there and that it had been stolen-He understood(and almost didn’t seem surprised) and he made some phone calls, however the chocolate never re-appeared even though I did make them all sweat for a while. I had to replace it in the end .
Sylvia and I don’t seem very good at leaving anywhere, there always seems to be one good reason why we should spend another day or two here or there, as I write I think I am the main offender,! This time it was for T-shirts we‘d seen embroidered in Kathmandu. Some of the art-work was so good I felt that there might be the possibility of an interesting business proposition so we spent a few days talking business with a few shops and getting some samples made. There were also a whole host of other things we were trying to sort out as well before we left. The main one being the scheduling of our time riding back to Turkey, Turkey being the first country not requiring a Carnet de passage. Meanwhile our initial plan to visit Chitwan re-surfaced and we scheduled a 1-day/2night stop there on our way to New Dehli where we planned to get our Visa.
Finally we managed to get all our stuff on the bike and set off, including 2x5l of fuel I’d managed to get in Pokhara due to the fuel shortage in Kathmandu, and Nepal generally.(They hadn’t paid India for the oil they’d supplied so India cut off the supply.) We said our goodbyes to the boys at our Hotel, and left them all a decent tip and some British & Swiss chocolate as a thank you.
We’d chosen a slightly longer route to Chitwan as the ride was supposed to be very scenic and we’d ridden most of the alternate route 6 times on various rides/drives to Pokhara or to go rafting. The road was very narrow and very windy and after about 15 miles I started to wonder if we’d made the right decision as we’d already almost been knocked in to a deep rain gulley by the side of the road by a lorry. I was literally toppling over to my left and could barely take the weight of the bike anymore, however Sylvia lent slightly to our right which gave me enough purchase to hold the bikes full weight again. After getting vertical I had to stop for a few moments as I was fairly shocked and tired and had envisaged a few broken bones, not to mention trying to get the Dakar out of the gulley. We set off again and not long after met another European rider.
Tom was from Switzerland and was riding a BMW 1200 GS Adventure. I naturally hated him straight away on account of the bike he was riding. Within a few minutes we learnt that he was also travelling around the world and offered me a ride on his bike. Normally I’d decline but there was something about the way I’d been struggling with the Dakar that morning that made me accept. Within 20 seconds I was convinced I needed one and disappeared for 10 mins whilst he and Sylvia talked in a foreign language !! >8;O) When I returned it took Tom half an hour to prise the keys to his bike from my hand, an additional 20 mins to argue that “no, we hadn’t agreed to swap”, and a further 30 of councelling me about appropriate boundaries. It was just so much easier to ride. I wanted one there and then.
We learnt from Tom that the only way you could obtain an Iranian Visa was through on-line application using a Company providing a Visa service. The bonus was you could collect your actual Visa from the Iranian Embassy of your choice. I wasn’t too sure about this on first hearing as it sounded too good to be true. After exchanging a few stories/web-sites and e-mail addresses we were on our way again, considerably later than we’d hoped, but naturally enjoyable none-the-less.
We managed about 45mins or maybe an hour after leaving Tom when the looming rain clouds turned into the down-pour we’d hoped to avoid, and it came thick and fast , faster than we could stop and get our wet-suits on, despite my back-track to find somewhere drier to get them on. Kitted up we drove for about 20 mins and the rain stopped !!!, sound familiar ?
We were both a bit hungry BUT late so we pushed on to try and get some decent Km’s under our belts before stopping. The ride was mainly through the country-side but the pressing need to get to Chitwan removed the ability to fully enjoy it. Eventually we came to a very large town/city, found somewhere to eat and directions to a local petrol station. We sat down and ordered Dahl Bhat, the staple food of the Nepalise. The owner was a lot nicer than his food, and although edible, was full of bones which is normal but on this occasion disappointing as we were so hungry.(They really can’t afford the better pieces of meat.)
Refreshed we set off again and resumed our journey. After some novel looking sign-posts to the Hotel region we found the one that Sylvia fancied, negotiated the price, and settled in.
Mike.
After settling back in to our Hotel and learning that Prakesh had managed to secure our Pakistan Visas for us, we set about returning the hire gear and ’water-proof’ jackets we’d bought. The Nepalise dealer was genuinely surprised we’d had a problem.(We still weren’t sure if the water inside Sylvia’s jacket was sweat but we felt either way a breathable waterproof jacket should keep you drier than if you’d just walked in the rain in your blouse. ) The salesman had given Sylvia a written Guarantee with a money-back promise and he honoured it without quibbling…..which is more than can be said for North Face. They wanted to test the jacket which I guess is fair enough(as people in the past have bought new jackets/equipment, used them to trek, and returned them at the end faulty-(i.e. to get free hire of new equipment !!). When we returned the following day they confessed that they hadn’t tested it fully but would be prepared to exchange it for the same model. I said this wasn’t good enough as we were leaving Kathmandu soon and wouldn’t be in a position to return it should the replacement fail in a week or so. This was a circular argument and left us agreeing that I would e-mail the head office in the USA with the promise of a near immediate response. Guess what ? I didn’t get even a 24 hour response. It appears the lady in the shop hadn’t given me the personal e-mail address she intended !! Arrgghh !! Finally it was felt that the jacket I had been sold was unsuitable for trekking as it was a ski jacket and hence the water in it could have been sweat from wearing too heavier jacket for the job. If this was the case I really am flabbergasted . I’m fairly sure a conventional sou-wester would have generated less sweat/water inside. We were walking with heavy packs BUT we weren’t running and it certainly wasn’t hot !! On the basis of being sold the wrong jacket I was allowed to choose a different one and make up the difference of the resultant credit with a second pair of walking trousers. I left feeling just ok about the whole thing.(Read about my experience with new jacket in the Chitwan entry…… & elsewhere !!)
It was also the time of Sylvia’s Birthday and we’d hoped for her to be inside the Chitwan National park spotting White Rhino’s but we just couldn’t get there in time so I wanted to take her to a nice restaurant in town. We found one recommended very highly in the Rough Guide and so went there for the evening. The food was good but not excellent for the money spent or the self-promotion the owner had given himself. Friends in high places he had, but he needed to ensure the quality of products to those of us in the lower places. Our experience was further spoilt by a member of their staff stealing some chocolate we’d bought for Prakesh and the boys back at our Hotel. We left it there by accident and I returned the following morning to collect it but nobody had seen it. I assured the Manager it had definitely been left there and that it had been stolen-He understood(and almost didn’t seem surprised) and he made some phone calls, however the chocolate never re-appeared even though I did make them all sweat for a while. I had to replace it in the end .
Sylvia and I don’t seem very good at leaving anywhere, there always seems to be one good reason why we should spend another day or two here or there, as I write I think I am the main offender,! This time it was for T-shirts we‘d seen embroidered in Kathmandu. Some of the art-work was so good I felt that there might be the possibility of an interesting business proposition so we spent a few days talking business with a few shops and getting some samples made. There were also a whole host of other things we were trying to sort out as well before we left. The main one being the scheduling of our time riding back to Turkey, Turkey being the first country not requiring a Carnet de passage. Meanwhile our initial plan to visit Chitwan re-surfaced and we scheduled a 1-day/2night stop there on our way to New Dehli where we planned to get our Visa.
Finally we managed to get all our stuff on the bike and set off, including 2x5l of fuel I’d managed to get in Pokhara due to the fuel shortage in Kathmandu, and Nepal generally.(They hadn’t paid India for the oil they’d supplied so India cut off the supply.) We said our goodbyes to the boys at our Hotel, and left them all a decent tip and some British & Swiss chocolate as a thank you.
We’d chosen a slightly longer route to Chitwan as the ride was supposed to be very scenic and we’d ridden most of the alternate route 6 times on various rides/drives to Pokhara or to go rafting. The road was very narrow and very windy and after about 15 miles I started to wonder if we’d made the right decision as we’d already almost been knocked in to a deep rain gulley by the side of the road by a lorry. I was literally toppling over to my left and could barely take the weight of the bike anymore, however Sylvia lent slightly to our right which gave me enough purchase to hold the bikes full weight again. After getting vertical I had to stop for a few moments as I was fairly shocked and tired and had envisaged a few broken bones, not to mention trying to get the Dakar out of the gulley. We set off again and not long after met another European rider.
Tom was from Switzerland and was riding a BMW 1200 GS Adventure. I naturally hated him straight away on account of the bike he was riding. Within a few minutes we learnt that he was also travelling around the world and offered me a ride on his bike. Normally I’d decline but there was something about the way I’d been struggling with the Dakar that morning that made me accept. Within 20 seconds I was convinced I needed one and disappeared for 10 mins whilst he and Sylvia talked in a foreign language !! >8;O) When I returned it took Tom half an hour to prise the keys to his bike from my hand, an additional 20 mins to argue that “no, we hadn’t agreed to swap”, and a further 30 of councelling me about appropriate boundaries. It was just so much easier to ride. I wanted one there and then.
We learnt from Tom that the only way you could obtain an Iranian Visa was through on-line application using a Company providing a Visa service. The bonus was you could collect your actual Visa from the Iranian Embassy of your choice. I wasn’t too sure about this on first hearing as it sounded too good to be true. After exchanging a few stories/web-sites and e-mail addresses we were on our way again, considerably later than we’d hoped, but naturally enjoyable none-the-less.
We managed about 45mins or maybe an hour after leaving Tom when the looming rain clouds turned into the down-pour we’d hoped to avoid, and it came thick and fast , faster than we could stop and get our wet-suits on, despite my back-track to find somewhere drier to get them on. Kitted up we drove for about 20 mins and the rain stopped !!!, sound familiar ?
We were both a bit hungry BUT late so we pushed on to try and get some decent Km’s under our belts before stopping. The ride was mainly through the country-side but the pressing need to get to Chitwan removed the ability to fully enjoy it. Eventually we came to a very large town/city, found somewhere to eat and directions to a local petrol station. We sat down and ordered Dahl Bhat, the staple food of the Nepalise. The owner was a lot nicer than his food, and although edible, was full of bones which is normal but on this occasion disappointing as we were so hungry.(They really can’t afford the better pieces of meat.)
Refreshed we set off again and resumed our journey. After some novel looking sign-posts to the Hotel region we found the one that Sylvia fancied, negotiated the price, and settled in.
Mike.
